Fees and frequently asked questions

When does the Spring School 2025 run?

• The 2025 Oxford Spring School will run from Monday 31 March until Friday 4 April and is taught both in-person and online. 
• Please note that the clocks will go forward and daylight saving time - or British Summer Time (BST) - in the United Kingdom will begin at 1am on Sunday 30 March.
• Registration and welcome: for those participating in-person, Oxford Spring School will start at 8.30am BST on Monday 31 March.
• Morning course options: will run from 9am-12pm (BST), Monday - Friday, and are open to in-person and online participants.
• Afternoon course options: will run from 2pm-5pm (BST), Monday - Friday, and are open to in-person and online participants.
• Welcome receptions: there will be separate welcome receptions for both the in-person and online groups to get to know one another.
• Formal college dinner (in person attendees only): this will take place at Brasenose College on Thursday 3 April.

How many places are there?

• In-person: There will a maximum of 20 in-person attendees per course.
• Online: We are not placing a limit on the online places available for each course at this stage, however we’ll make sure that online numbers do not negatively impact in-person learning. 
• DPIR DPhil bursaries: Bursary places are available to current DPIR DPhil students. Email the Spring School team for more details. 

Course options

In 2025 the Oxford Spring School will be available both in-person and online. We are excited to be offering two new courses on Time Series Analysis and Large Language Models, as well as the option to select a second, related course for those choosing Causal Inference, Qualitative Methods, Text Analysis or Large Language Models.

We will also be offering networking and learning opportunities throughout the week-long programme to both in-person and online participants. 

Find out more details about the courses on our course information page.

In-person

• All in-person teaching sessions take place at the Department of Politics and International Relations, Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ. View details of how to locate the Department. 
• We will host a welcome reception, time and date to be confirmed.
• In-person attendees will have the opportunity to attend a formal college dinner at Brasenose College on Thursday 3 April.
• The in-person course fee includes all of the above, plus refreshments throughout the week and lunch on the first day.
   

Online participants

How will the online sessions run?  

• All morning and afternoon sessions will be streamed on Zoom, giving live access to in-person teaching.
• We are unable to record any sessions – online students need to ensure that they are ready to join the teaching sessions at the correct time in their local time zone to make the BST timetable. Please note that the clocks will go forward and daylight-saving time - or British Summer Time (BST) - in the United Kingdom will begin at 1am on Sunday 30 March.
• We will also run separate networking sessions for online participants, providing opportunities to meet online participants from other courses as well as those on your course.  
   

What will I need to access the course?

• A good, reliable internet connection from wherever you are joining the Oxford Spring School. 
• The ability to access Zoom to attend your course and access your course materials. 
• A camera and microphone/speaker either built into your laptop, headphones or similar. 

Are there entry requirements for Oxford Spring School?  

• The Oxford Spring School focuses on a variety of research skills; therefore, we welcome students from any social science background to apply. 
• Please note we offer a non-advanced course - ‘Data Analysis for the Social Sciences’ - for those with little or no experience in quantitative methods.  
   

• What are the application deadlines? 

  • The Early Bird application deadline is 12 noon GMT on Friday 31 January 2025. Applications submitted before this deadline will receive a £50 discount on the course fee (applied automatically).
  • Rolling applications to Oxford Spring School will be accepted until 12 noon GMT on Monday 3 March 2025, or until all places have been reserved. 
  • A bursary scheme is available to current DPIR DPhil students. Email the Spring School team for more details. 

  When will I know whether my application has been accepted? 

  • We will always aim to review and reply to applications within six working days.
  • Please check your junk/spam folder if you have not received a notification on the outcome of your application after this time, and contact the Spring School team if you have not received an email.

  How do I confirm my place? 

  • If you are offered a place on the course, you will need to follow the link in your acceptance email and pay the amount due.
  • Your place is not reserved or confirmed until you have paid your fee. 
  • If you do not make payment or reply confirming your institution will make payment then a place will not be allocated to you.

• There are a limited number of full bursary places for DPIR DPhil students whose study will benefit from attending Oxford Spring School. 
• DPIR DPhil students have a separate application process – please do not apply via the main application form but email the Spring School team for more information. 
• We regret that we cannot extend the bursary scheme to other DPIR students because of limited capacity – we have to prioritise students whose research will most benefit from this training. Other DPIR students are still very welcome to apply via the standard application page. 

• How can I pay for the course? 

  • We only accept payment by credit or debit card for places on the Oxford Spring School. In certain circumstances, where this is not possible for an institution or organisation, payment via invoice may be arranged. However, since this can be a lengthy process, please email the Spring School team as soon possible if you need to request to pay via invoice. 
  • If your application is successful, you will be sent a link to pay for the course (and accommodation, if applicable).   
  • Places are not reserved or confirmed until payment has been made.  
  • The final date payments can be made is Monday 10 March 2025. 
  • We regret that it is not possible to make payment to the Department by bank transfer.  
  • If you do not make payment or reply confirming your institution will make payment then a place will not be allocated to you. 

  My institution will pay for me – how can I arrange this? 

  • The preferred method of payment is credit or debit card by your institution. 
  • Important: If your institution will be paying your fees, please ensure the relevant financial approval has been attained and the financial contact(s) at your institution have been consulted regarding the payment method (either credit or debit card, or invoice by request) prior to your application. This will help speed up the process of reserving your place on the course. If accepted on to the course, we will send you the relevant information to arrange payment via your institution. Please note that course places will only be reserved once payment information has been received.

  Is there any funding available to subsidise my course fee? 

  • We are not offering bursaries for the 2025 Oxford Spring School apart from current DPIR DPhil students. 
  • DPIR DPhil bursaries are available to current full-time and part-time DPhil students in DPIR who showcase how their chosen course will help with their projects. All bursary places will be awarded on merit. If you are a current DPIR DPhil student please email the Spring School team for more information.

Participants taking Causal Inference I and II, Text Analysis, Machine Learning, Time series Analysis, and Data Analysis for the Social Sciences will be using RStudio. LLM students will be using Python, while Qualitative methods participants will not be using any software. 

When will I receive my course material?

All accepted course participants (who have paid their course fee) will be supplied with access to the online course material three weeks before the start of the course.

I need a certificate to prove that I attended the course – will I receive one automatically?

Yes, at the end of the course you will be given a certificate of attendance at the Oxford Spring School. This will be emailed to you at the end of the week. 

My course has been cancelled? 

• Unfortunately, there is a small chance we may cancel courses if they do not meet the minimum number of participants required for the course to be feasible to run. 
• We require a minimum number of participants per course (this will also ensure the opportunity to network amongst participants).
• In the rare event that your core course is cancelled and you have already paid: 
  • We will offer you a place on a different core course (if they are relevant to you and your skill set) 
  • Or we will offer you a full refund.

I need to withdraw my application or cancel my place – how can I do this?

• If you have already confirmed your place and we have received payment for your course fee, unfortunately we cannot cancel your place or issue a refund. However, please email the Spring School team so that we know not to expect you.